Starting Over
by Andorian Ice Princess-AIP
Summary: She stood facing him in the rain, in the middle of Lincoln Park; his eyes begging hers for an answer. As long as I have you with me Kelly, I'm home.


**Title: Starting Over **

**Summary:** She stood facing him in the rain, in the middle of Lincoln Park; his eyes begging hers for an answer. As long as I have you with me Kelly, I am home.

**Disclaimer: **Goodness you know by now write? I own nothing belonging to Chicago Fire or Chicago PD only my crazy muse Alice and her ideas!

**A/N:** So I was rewatching old eppies and I did a bit of a retake on eppy 4.23 when Erin made the decision to leave but I wanted to put a new twist on it and hope you all like it.

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It had been two weeks since she had ventured east; testing the waters in New York, a new start that she thought she wanted.

It had been two weeks since she had packed up whatever material possessions would fit into a medium sized moving truck and drove off into the night.

It had been two weeks since she tried to mend her broken heart, but knew that there was only one person and one place that could do that.

It had been two weeks of hell; separated from the only person on the planet that owned the other half of her soul that held her heart and that would share her future.

_I'm coming home Kelly. _

It had been two weeks since she had told him she was leaving, a temporary position at best; something of a new start which is what she figured was best.

It had been two weeks since he had stood, every day, staring absently at her empty office, trying to find the power to keep breathing, wondering if he was even able.

It had been two weeks since he realized what a good night's sleep really was, what it meant to smile, laugh, love and dream.

It had been two weeks of sheer breakdown of spirit; the realization that his future was now out of his grasp, his mind and heart desperate for her return.

_Please come home Erin._

She had finally arrived in Chicago, suitcase in hand, weary expression on her face. The rest of her things were being delivered the next day. She takes a step out of the domestic arrivals door, takes in a breath of fresh air and quickly realizes one thing about the city that never sleeps.

"I'm home," Erin whispers as she stares at the twinkling city lights before her. She pulls out her cell and calls a friend, not Kelly, but someone who might know where he is so that she can offer him a welcome surprise.

_"He's not home Erin," Matt informs her. _

"Where is he?"

_"Probably the same place he has been for the past two weeks."_

"Where is that Matt, tell me. Molly's?"

_"No. Go easy on him Erin; he's been miserable since you left. And Erin…it's good to have you home."_

"Good to be home Matt."

_"How long you back for?"_

"Back for good," I tell him in truth before I hang up and give the taxi driver my new destination. I lean my head back on the seat of the cab and close my eyes; my mind wanting to replay every minute that Kelly and I argued about before I left. Him begging me to stay and me being too stubborn to actually believe he was telling the truth until it was too late.

_'When are you coming back Erin?'_

He had asked her as she rushed from his office with tear filled eyes. He had tried to tell her that Chicago was her home; tried to spout off various reasons why she should believe him; why she should stay. But in that moment he had failed to mention the one thing that made it truly home for her – him. He was the only reason she came back; he was her life and without him, the world was an empty place.

_This is my home, Chicago. It always has been. I was abandoned here and she took me in. I can't just walk away on her now. Not when Kelly is still here._

The cab stops just outside the darkened area that is Lincoln Park; the cabbie turning to look at her with a frown.

"Lady it's dark and about to rain. You sure you want me to drop you off here?"

"I'll be okay," Erin replies as she hands him her fare, about to get out. "I'm home."

The cabbie only shakes his head, but gives her a nod and then pulls away; Erin facing the dark mass of forest before her with a heavy heart. A few raindrops start to pelt her face as she slowly heads toward the path that she was instructed to take by a concerned friend; a detour that would head Kelly off before he could disappear into the night.

She heads toward the dimly lit path, telling herself that she only has to see his face, hear his voice and then feel his touch and everything would be as it should be and her heart could start to mend.

The rain continues to blanket her with a fine mist as she rounds the second corner and stops; seeing a figure coming toward her, her heart now racing with delighted anticipation.

Trying once again in vain to clear the pain from his mind, Kelly pushes himself further into the night, not caring that the rain was further dampening his weary frame, sucking out body heat and laughing as his breathing started to shallow. His mind and heart always in agony as he tries to erase the fact that he's going to spend another night at home alone. He came here – the place of their first official kiss in the hopes that one night, he'd show up and she'd be there. So many nights…so much disappointment.

But as he heads onto a small stretch of deserted path he looks up and stops. A figure ahead. A figure that resembles his future. But he shakes his head, telling himself that she's an apparition, a figment his mind has conjured to mock his single state and it's just something he wants so desperately to see but isn't real.

_She's not there, this is just another disappointment, _he tries to blink her away. But to no avail; the figure remains fixed in place. Is she real? Is she here? Has she come home?

He stops a few feet from her, his heart now racing; not from the run but from the reason she'll offer as to why she's standing in the park in the middle of the night with the rain cascading around her. She's beautiful and he now hopes and prays she's back for good.

"Erin?" Kelly stops, uttering her name as if it's something almost too sacred to be spoken out loud.

Just the sound of her name offered by his warm voice, makes her eye want to water and her stomach tighten.

"Is it really you?" He asks, unsure if the vision before him is real or just another tormented figment of his imagination. He had seen her so many times in his minds eye over the past two weeks that until she speaks he thinks he's losing it once more.

"It is Kelly," she answers, her voice barely audible. "I'm back."

He takes a step closer, his eyes studying her with intent; trying to convince himself she's back home where she belongs, at his side, back to stay. He notices her eyes blink, her perfect lips slightly curl and her frame relax a little more. She's back.

"Are you okay?" He asks softly, finally seeing the salty tears that are now rimming her eyes; his own wanting to follow suit and water as well.

"I am now."

Kelly finally closes the distance and then stops, the world around them slowly fading into a blur; the rain slowing, only select droplets allowed to dance on the pair below them.

"Before you left…"

"No Kelly," Erin holds up her hand, her lips almost quivering. "I need to say this before anything else is said."

"Please don't Erin; you have nothing to explain to me."

"Don't I?" She counters as she slowly drops her bag to her feet and then looks back up at him with an uncertain gaze. "I think I do."

"I was out of line and…"

"No you weren't. You don't get it do you Kelly?"

Kelly's fingers quickly reach out and grasp hers, not caring about the wet and the cold; just reveling in the delightful feeling of the heat their combined flesh was now creating.

"Then I meant what I said before you left Erin. I love you. And if it was that, that scared you away then tell me, and I'll recant."

"Will you still mean it?"

"I'll always mean it."

"That is what I needed to hear."

"Do you know how long I have waited to hear you say that to me?" She finally manages.

"Erin…"

"Don't apologize Kelly. It was wonderful."

"Then I'm sorry I waited so long to tell you. I'm sorry if it sounded like a desperate plea from a desperate man."

"Were you?"

"I was."

"Anyone ever tell you that you have bad timing," she remarks as she moves in a bit closer.

"You," he answers with a soft smile, his dark lashes batting away a few determined droplets. "Do you want to go and…"

"Do you know the _real reason _I went to New York, Kelly?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure? Because if you say it was because of work you'll be wrong."

"Then I am confused. Why else?"

"I was scared."

"Of what?"

"Of not being able to give you back the love you deserve," she admits as a small tear finally busts through the thickened skin and starts to slowly slide down her cheek.

"Do you know how long I've been alone Kelly?" She manages in a weak tone.

"Erin, please don't do this," Kelly begs as the fingers of his right hand leave hers to dangle at her side, as they take up new residence on her cool cheek.

"Do you know how long I have waited for you?"

"Too long," he sighs, only to have her left hand leave his to dangle at his side and her fingers to rest on his rain flushed lips.

"All my life Kelly. I have been waiting to be really loved all my life; since I was a small girl. And when you offered me your love I was scared. Scared that I had finally found the one person I had been looking for all my life."

"Then why did you leave?"

"I wasn't sure what to do next. I had told myself that you, the man I wanted to love me as you do, didn't exist. But when you offered me your love I almost didn't believe it was real. That you only offered it as something to keep me here."

"It is real," Kelly insists as he leans in closer. "I know my timing was the worst, but I want you to believe me."

"I want to also," Erin lightly frowns.

"Tell me Erin…tell me what to do to make you believe that my love for you is real."

"Tell me again Kelly, right now. Right here, just the two of us. So that I can see the look of love in your eyes as you offer me your heart."

"My future Erin; that is what I offer."

"Our future Kelly."

"I love you Erin," Kelly offers warmly, both his hands now cupping her face as he brings her lips to his.

The kiss between them lingers, electrically charged heat starting to cover them, offering a small shield against some of the rain; so that it seemingly bounces right off.

Her body leans into his, his grasp slowly leaving her face and resting on either side of her neck, her lips offering a few soft moans of happiness and delight.

His body begs for hers to come closer, her touch flooding him with a delight he hasn't felt in years and tells himself will never want to experience with anyone else ever again.

Kelly pulls back, his intent gaze wanting delve deeper into her soul, his heart begging, longing, needing her to offer to him the same sentiment of love that he had confessed.

"I have been alone for a long time also Erin."

"Not any more Kelly. I love you too. That is why I am back."

"Say it again," he asks with a soft whisper.

"I love you Kelly," Erin confesses once more with a growing smile.

His fingers reach out and gently whisk away some damp golden strands, exposing her face to him completely once again, his heart racing and his joy undeniable.

"I honestly thought I lost you. I was in hell for two weeks," Kelly confesses with a heavy sigh, his fingers still warmly resting around the base of her neck but his forehead now resting on his.

"I was lost for two weeks Kelly."

"Lost?" He pulls back with confusion.

"Wondering where I was. Two weeks of strange faces and strange feelings. I hated it."

"I never wanted you to give up anything for me Erin."

"My heart was never there Kelly. Chicago is my home."

"I thought you always said…" he starts only to have her push her thumb on his lips.

"She took me in when no one else wanted to."

"She gave me a chance when no one else could."

"You were alone then Erin," Kelly treads carefully.

"But she never let me fall completely into darkness Kelly."

"She gave me a future filled with endless possibilities and a team I could rely on."

Kelly's heart presses up against her chest, firmly beating his continued love for her; his damp shirt pasted to his firm chest but his body kept warm by her grasp on him.

"And then…she gave me you Kelly."

"You always had me Erin."

"Chicago is my home Kelly, this is where I belong."

"I almost feel selfish about all this," a heavy sigh escapes his lips.

"Please don't," she states in haste. "This was my decision either way Kelly."

"Are you sure?"

"I have waited for you all my life Kelly."

"You don't have to wait any longer. I'm sorry it went this far."

"Well you do have bad timing," Erin smiles as she leans in closer once more.

"I know," he frowns as he kisses her once more. The heat between then continues to soar, their futures finally melding into one. "I don't have…damn I don't have the words or the ring or…" he paused as her eyes widened in shock. "I never want to lose you, ever. Marry me? Please? Be my wife…let me love you… we can start over a…"

"Yes!" She exclaims as she throws her arms around him and another passionate kiss ensues. "I never want to leave you again."

His grin widens a little further before he leans in and gives her one more heated kiss. Then without a word, he picks up her bag, wraps his arm around her damp coat, pulls her close and leads them back out of Lincoln Park toward a waiting cab.

"Where to?" The cabbie asks, looking from Erin to Kelly.

"Home."

**THE END!**

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**A/N:** Okay kinda sappy but hope you liked it and thanks so much!


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